OREANDA-NEWS Defense Ministers of Georgia and Germany Levan Izoria and Ursula von der Leyen signed in Germany the first in the history of bilateral relations agreement on cooperation in the military sphere. This information published the press service of the Georgian defense Ministry.

"For the first time in the history of our cooperation, an agreement on cooperation in the field of defense was signed, in which it was noted that Germany will again support NATO's open door policy towards Georgia and will do its best to integrate the country into NATO," Izoria said after a meeting with von der Leyen during his visit to Germany. His words are quoted by the press service of the defense Ministry.

The sides discussed issues of deepening cooperation between the two countries in the defense sphere and outlined new directions.

Izoria is also planning to take part in the international conference on security in Berlin.

Institutional cooperation between Georgia and NATO began in 1994, when the country became a member of the Partnership for peace. After the "rose revolution" of 2004, cooperation between Georgia and NATO became more intense. In April 2008, at the NATO summit in Bucharest, it was confirmed that Georgia could become a member of the Alliance in the future, provided that its standards were met. During the NATO summit in Wales, which took place on 4-5 September 2014, a package of measures was approved to assist Georgia in its pursuit of membership in the Alliance. As part of the package of measures, joint military exercises are regularly held in Georgia.

Earlier, on November 21, the European Union and Georgia agreed at talks on Wednesday on 25 projects and programs, including in the field of business and economic support, as well as the development of education and transport, the European Commission said on Wednesday.

According to the results of the working meeting of representatives of the EC and members of the governmental delegation of Georgia was signed on the annual action programme for Georgia and the financial agreement.